Unemployment rates mixed in Ohio Valley

OHIO VALLEY — Unemployment rates in the Ohio Valley for January were recently released with Meigs County having the dubious distinction of the second highest unemployment rate in the state.

According to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, Meigs County had 11.1 percent unemployment, preceded only by Monroe County with 13.8 percent unemployment.

Gallia County reported 8.4 percent unemployment, which meant it ranked 19 out of 88 counties in terms of unemployment rates.

Across the river in Mason County, W.Va., unemployment was reported at 8.9 percent with all 55 counties in West Virginia seeing a rise in unemployment rates from December 2015 to January. Jefferson County had the lowest unemployment rate at 3.9 percent, while Roane County had the highest at 13.1 percent unemployment.

Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in January, up from a revised 4.8 percent in December 2015. Ohio’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment increased 100 over the month, from a revised 5,475,400 in December 2015 to 5,475,500 in January.

The number of workers unemployed in Ohio in January was 279,000, up 6,000 from 273,000 in December 2015. The number of unemployed has decreased by 12,000 in the past 12 months from 291,000. The January unemployment rate for Ohio was down from 5.1 percent in January 2015.

Ohio’s non-agricultural wage and salary employment increased 100 over the month, from a revised 5,475,400 in December 2015 to 5,475,500 in January, according to the latest business establishment survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor (Bureau of Labor Statistics) in cooperation with ODJFS.